November 2018

In this issue

Bonnie Henry spent three years as deputy provincial health officer before taking her current role in February. The physician and UBC clinical associate professor, who specializes in public health and preventative medicine, is the first woman to hold the job.
When it comes to legalization of recreational cannabis, what expertise do you bring?A lot of my expertise is around looking at...

After 30 years as an executive for different companies, including almost three as CEO of DavidsTea in his hometown of Montreal, Sylvain Toutant joined True Leaf Medicine’s board in July. The Vernon-based company has 17 full-time staff and two main branches: True Leaf Med, which hopes to become a licensed producer of medicinal cannabis by this fall; and True Leaf...

When Keith Dolo saw a chance to join the cannabis industry, he jumped at it. Before being tapped to head Sproutly in 2017, the Saskatchewan native spent 14 years with staffing services firm Robert Half, where he was a VP.
One of Vancouver-based Sproutly’s two subsidiaries is Toronto Herbal Remedies, a licensed producer of medical cannabis. Having prepared to take the business public this...

The Geen family has farmed in the Okanagan Valley for more than 120 years, growing tree fruits like apples and cherries, with a foray into ginseng in the 1990s. Now, fourth-generation farmer Marc Geen is cultivating cannabis.
After the federal government announced the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) in 2013, allowing commercial cultivation in Canada, Geen launched SpeakEasy Cannabis Club...

It didn’t take long for Grant Froese to get bored. After spending 38 years with grocery titan Loblaw Cos. in Ontario—most recently serving as COO—he lasted just over a year in retirement before jumping back into the saddle at a B.C. company this summer.
Harvest One Cannabis, based in Vancouver, employs about 60 people and consists of three entities. The company...

To mark the recent legalization of recreational marijuana, we check in with some of the key players in the B.C. cannabis world. From pot growers to government officials to medical professionals, meet the people helping move the industry forward and keep British Columbians safe. Today’s subject is Dan Sutton, founder and managing director of Tantalus Labs

ATTACK VECTOR Telephone (recorded message)
THE SCAM “Canada Revenue Agency” calls to inform you that you owe thousands of dollars in back taxes and/or fines; if you don’t pay them right away, you’ll be prosecuted or jailed
THE GOAL Money
THE TELL The real CRA doesn’t call you up to demand payment. Nor does it ask for payments to be made in iTunes gift...

To mark the recent legalization of recreational marijuana, we check in with some of the key players in the B.C. cannabis world. From pot growers to government officials to medical professionals, meet the people helping move the industry forward and keep British Columbians safe. Today’s subject is Dan Kriznic, founder, chairman and CEO of Invictus MD Strategies Corp.

When Sabrina Chammas Doumet was one, her parents took a look around their war-torn hometown of Beirut and made sure she could inherit their Canadian citizenship. The move came in handy after Doumet decided to go to school in the U.S. She secured a student visa to study film production in L.A. but couldn’t parlay it into permanent residency. Although...

A lifestyle shift and the ascent of Lululemon created athleisure, a trend that has reached beyond activewear’s traditional market—those who exercise—and become a culture in itself. Now, people wear yoga pants like they would jeans and will buy anything with a stylized A logo on it. These four B.C.-based clothing makers focus on innovative fabrics and functional designs that work...